The attempts to recover useful energy from the motion of waves on a body of water are well documented. Proposed devices for converting the reciprocating action of buoyant objects on the surface of a body of water into electrical power are replete in the prior art. The reason for this is clear, as the oceans and seas will be able to provide a constant, renewable, natural, pollution-free source of energy if its energy can be harnessed in an economical and reliable manner. However, solving this latter problem has been challenging and the few existing operational wave to energy converters share several major shortcomings.
Many systems of the prior art require an anchor or attachment to either the shore or the ocean floor. This requirement limits the location of these converters and the depth of the water in which they may be deployed. It would be advantageous to exploit the waves traveling across the surfaces of the deep water regions of the ocean where large waves are abundant.
The amounts of energy that can be extracted from devices of the prior art are meager compared with the expense of fabricating, operating, and maintaining these devices. In order to extract large amounts of energy from the waves in the sea, the scale of the effort, in terms of numbers and sizes of devices, will need to be dramatically increased. However, the prior art lacks an effective manner or technology with which to accomplish this goal.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and accomplishes the foregoing objects in a safe, cost-effective, efficient and reliable manner.